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Appeals court postpones Arizona man's execution

The Associated Press

Posted:
07/19/2014 07:27:01 PM CDT

PHOENIX (AP) — An appeals court has granted an Arizona death row inmate's request to postpone his execution until prison officials reveal details on the two-drug combination that will be used to put him to death.

The preliminary injunction granted Saturday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes four days before the scheduled execution of Joseph Wood.

The 9th Circuit judges did not weigh in on the "ultimate merits" of Wood's case, but said he presented "serious questions" that justified the postponement.

Wood's lawyers argued prison officials violated his First Amendment rights by refusing to reveal the makers of the drugs and other details.

Attorneys for the state argued there was no First Amendment right to the information.

Wood is scheduled to be executed for the 1989 shooting deaths of his estranged girlfriend and her father.